So little time

I have so many blog posts in my head. Things keep happening that I want to write about, and I can't seem to find the time.

Here I go again with 8 things about us, just to keep you up to date:

1. Tommy and Tara have survived their exams and are back at her parents' home in Philadelphia for the summer.

2. Congratulations to Patrick, who scored a goal in the final soccer game of his senior year. He is with the Edgren Eagles at Iwakuni for the Far East soccer tournament. Go Eagles! 5th place at Far East. It was a mighty struggle, and we are proud that you never gave up!

3. Katie went with us to see Othello last night at the Mokuteki Theater on base. And I had thought Hamlet was a lesson in "the wages of sin is death." Katie and I have lots to talk about, but I am happy that the program notes included excerpts from Dr. Faustus and commentary from the director about Shakespeare's demonstration of the effects of sin on the characters. Context is everything.

4. Joseph continues to plug away at his schoolwork in the hope of finishing the year by July 4. That would give him a month of summer break before we leave for Philadelphia for Tommy and Tara's wedding. Swimming and soccer fill his free time, and he has asked to play baseball when the soccer season ends, so there is no end to my taxi service until at least mid-July.

5. Matthew is learning to read!

6. Meghan has successfully used the potty chair twice this week. But she is now back in diapers. So I am not sure whether her insistence that I retrieve the potty chair from the garage was a passing fancy or not. Next week will tell.

7. John has finished his term as the Troop Committee Chair of Boy Scout Troop 14 on base. He is now merely an Assistant Scoutmaster and the Misawa OA Chair. I think he will stay active in scouting in one way or another while we're here, at least as long as Patrick remains in the Venture Crew, which he joined after turning 18 this winter.

9. I took a walk by myself this morning. Thirty minutes of silence broken only by an occasional "ohio gozaimas" exchange of greeting with passing neighbors. It was foggy and cool as I passed their dewey gardens, paused to watch rushing streams of irrigation flooding the rice fields, and peeked into ghostly greenhouses now partially open to harden the tiny rice shoots for planting. The sun was fairly high at 6:45, but it didn't burn off the fog that rolled in waves over garden and field and road from the Pacific 2 km away. Our sunrise is now around 4 a.m.

I guess I should be grateful that Meghan is still sleeping until 5.

Blessings all.